


susurration

by FancifulRivers



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (Lapis returns), AU, Gen, Spoilers for Episode: s05e18 A Single Pale Rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: Lapis and Pearl have a talk.





	susurration

**Author's Note:**

> AU, as Lapis has returned. Spoilers for the revelations about Pink Diamond.

"They're not being fair to you, you know." Lapis sounds casual- almost deceptively so. Pearl doesn't look up from the ocean waves lapping at her feet. She hasn't moved from her position on the beach for what feels like years, not even when Lapis first came down to see her, when she knew that Lapis knew. Steven must have told her, too.

"Why do you say that?" Pearl asks. Her throat feels tight. Lapis sits down next to her, neatly folding her legs beneath her. Her skirt bells out around her, reminding Pearl of her old- 

No, that doesn't matter anymore. She doesn't wear frills and skirts and flounces anymore. They aren't suited for wartime. She isn't a decoration piece anymore. Peridot had called her a fancy pearl and she'd almost kicked the little green gem's teeth in. 

"Blaming you," Lapis says simply. Pearl turns to look at her then. Her eyes are almost as blank and mysterious as they had been when her gem was still cracked.

"They- I deserve it," Pearl says, eyes burning. "They have a right to be angry. Rose kept something so important from them for thousands of years, and I-"

"Ruby and Sapphire know what it means for a pearl to be given a direct order from their diamond," Lapis interrupts. Now her voice is hard and thin and skates the edge of something Pearl can't quite identify. "You  _couldn't_. Steven told me what she did." Lapis crosses her hands in front of her and Pearl feels cold.

"She thought it was for the best," Pearl whispers. "No one should ever know, it- the rebellion would have fallen to pieces if people knew."

"She could have told them after the war," Lapis says. "She could have released you. You can't even say it now, can you? Now that it's out in the open?"

"Rose-" Before Pearl can even think of saying another word, her hands slam against her mouth with almost punishing force. Her eyes fill with tears and Lapis stares at her with something that should be pity.

"She never let you go," Lapis says. "You never stopped being trapped."

"I didn't mind it- I-" Pearl stops. She doesn't know how she feels anymore. Her mouth hurts from the impact of her fingers, Pink Diamond's last order still reverberating down the centuries.

"I'm sorry," Lapis says quietly. 

"I'm sorry about the mirror," Pearl blurts out. She doesn't know why she says it. Lapis looks startled, then uncomfortable. "I didn't know, I mean-"

"I know," Lapis says, interrupting her again. "I've had...a lot of time to think. It's not your fault." Pearl looks down at the sand. The sun is starting to go down, and the darkness makes her feel uneasy.

"You should go home to Peridot," Pearl murmurs. Lapis shakes her head.

"Not yet," she says. "I can stay here a while longer."

"Thank you," Pearl says. Lapis hesitates, then leans over, bestowing a feather-light hug that ends almost as soon as Pearl's realized it began.

"Let's watch the sunset," Lapis says. "Then you should go in. Steven and Amethyst are worried about you." A ghost of a smile touches Pearl's lips, the first one since she lost her cell phone.

"I know," she says.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a lot of feelings about Pearl and what Rose did. I also think Lapis would be able to relate to her in a lot of ways- or at least be angry on her behalf.


End file.
